Nitpicking a win

This was the Spurs’ season in a nutshell heading into Monday’s game against Toronto:

They had a losing record, having been blown out in both ends of a two-game road trip. Their two best players were attached to the bench with dueling ankle injuries. A third former All-Star was due a set of rabies shots.

Against that backdrop, a 131-124 victory seems more than acceptable. There will be a time when aesthetics matter. This isn’t one of them.

Even Gregg Popovich, a notorious perfectionist with a penchant for defense, said so.

“If you can’t enjoy a win,” he said, “that’s a problem.”

Make no mistake. The Spurs will take the win. But they also see vast room for improvement on the defensive end. They know they aren’t going to win many games in which they give up 124 points.

In fact, the last time they did that in a regulation game was Jan. 30, 1993. They survived because they scored more points in a four-quarter game than at any other time during the Popovich era.

So far this season, the Spurs have been far too penetrable on defense. Opponents are shooting 48.6 percent against them, the sixth-best percentage in the league. The Spurs are also allowing 102.5 points per game.

“I think we’re going to score, we just got to play better defense,” said Manu Ginobili, who elevated the Spurs with a vintage 36-point night. “We were talking before the season about trying to be the best team in the league defensively, and we’re not even close.”

The Spurs can take heart in their performance against the Raptors. They have some company. Toronto has scored in triple digits in each of its first seven games this season, a franchise record.

Still, the Spurs know, despite offensive upgrades over the offseason, the path to success does not lie in outscoring people. Eventually, they are going to have to discover their identity on defense.